Wednesday reality veterans stumble

'Talent' and 'Brother' both well off from last year

Summer veterans ”America’s Got Talent” on NBC and ”Big Brother” on CBS tied as Wednesday’s top programs among young adults, though both lost more than a quarter of their year-ago audiences.

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, the Wednesday premiere of ”Big Brother” at 8 p.m. averaged a timeslot-leading 1.9 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 and 5.6 million viewers overall, down from the 2.6 demo score for its season premiere last Thursday and 2.3 on Sunday; it was also down 27% vs. the comparable night a year ago. Later, the Eye aired repeats of ”Criminal Minds” (1.0/3 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall) and ”CSI” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 5.5 million viewers overall).

At NBC, ”America’s Got Talent” averaged a 1.9/6 in 18-49 and 7.5 million viewers overall to win the 9 o’clock hour and stand as the night’s No. 1 show outright in both adults 25-54 (2.6/7) and total viewers; it was down 30% year-to-year. The Peacock net opened the night with encores of ”Off Their Rockers” (1.1/4 in 18-49, 4.7 million viewers overall) and ”Up All Night” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall) and closed with a repeat of ”Law and Order: SVU” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 4.4 million viewers overall).

Fox won the night with a two-hour ”So You Think You Can Dance” (1.8/6 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall), which finished a smidge behind ”Talent” and ”Brother” in 18-49 and was the night’s No. 1 show in persons 12-34 (1.5/5). Unlike the other Wednesday vets, It limited its year-to-year losses to about 10%.

Univision earned a second-place finish on the night, winning at 10 p.m. in demos with ”La Que No Podia Amar” (1.7/5 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall).

At ABC, 10 p.m. newcomer ”Final Witness” (1.2/4 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall) appears to have edged up to a series high, providing the net with nice time-period improvement over last year’s ”Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief.” Earlier in the evening, the net aired repeats of comedies ”The Middle” (0.8/3 in 18-49, 3.9 million viewers overall), ”Suburgatory” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall) and ”Modern Family,” both at 9 (1.4/4 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall) and 9:30 (1.5/4 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall).